Another E90 M3 fuel question.

[croyde]

The last tank of fuel in my 10 year old E36 323 has just returned 18 mpg. Mainly very short city journeys. This means that I could deal with the M3s mpg or can I?

Those of you with run-in M3 V8s how is your mpg now?

Is it still 18/19 overall or has it got better?

What's it like in town? and on a run?

My 323 is old school compared to the latest 3 series and is normally 18 around town but up to 25/26 on a run, thus being used to this kind of consumption should mean that running a M3 should not be a problem?

Apart from initial cost, servicing costs, vandalism etc.

[Disco_Biscuit]

No offence but if you can afford to buy a E90 M3 the running costs should be irrellevant.
I have never understood why people bang on about mpg in performance cars?

[croyde]

Good point but it was just a question. st NYE and just bored this morning.

I'm just interested to know what these cars return in town ie is it bad like 8 mpg or similar. Used one on the track earlier this year and we were getting around 5 mpg.

BTW these cars are going to be bargains this year so if one could scrape together the money to buy, I would just like to know from owners what is it like to keep on the road and look after it.

Used to have a 987 which used less fuel than my Beemer and the servicing costs were quite reasonable. An affordable performance car.

Edited by croyde on Thursday 1st January 11:45

[squeezebm]

Just over 5k miles and still stuck at 18.8mpg being used for short blats and loving it every time i use it,2nd car for me so as said Mpg doesn't really count as its a luxury;)

[croyde]

Good to know and I'm jealous, well jealous. Enjoy

[M5Dave]

Disco_Biscuit said:

No offence but if you can afford to buy a E90 M3 the running costs should be irrellevant.
I have never understood why people bang on about mpg in performance cars?

That's maybe true if you can afford the £50k+ list price for a new one, but as they dip down towards £30k and possibly less, then running costs do become important.

[waremark]

I think I probably average 19 mpg (after 11,000 miles). 24 mpg on a long run at moderate speeds, down to 8 mpg at Bruntingthorpe proving ground the other day.

[croyde]

Any idea what you are getting when stuck in town, short journeys etc?

Ta.

[foresterlad]

I have 23.5mpg on the computer from longish trips on mway/A road at legal speeds (mostly). However 12/15mpg is a more realistic return in city/heavy traffic. Using shell fuel exclusively the E90 has 3,600mls and continues to loosen up nicely. Given I was not much bothered by the fuel consumption reports (alway's dismal) before getting the car I doubt there is any difference from the E46 CS I ran previously.

[MC99]

mixed use of M/way and B roads has the on-board at 22.7MPG...would guess that it's down to 15/16 around town and single figures if you live in the 7-8400rpm range for any prolonged period...fantastic engine and worth every additional drop of fuel...

[waremark]

foresterlad said:

Given I was not much bothered by the fuel consumption reports (alway's dismal) before getting the car I doubt there is any difference from the E46 CS I ran previously.

I reckon it is about 4 mpg down on my previous E46 M3 in all circs - ie average 18 instead of 22, legalish long journey 24 instead of 28, etc. Sadly the fuel tank is the same size, and gives about 250 miles per tank.

[taffyracer]

i'm averaging 16-18 generally, 22-23 on a run, that's over 21,000 miles, great engine, old E46 M3 used to do 22-24 generally and 26-28 on a run so about 25% worse i'd say

[foresterlad]

We seem to have fairly similar mpg figures for the V8, however I never managed to record the results you had from the E46 car. On a different point I was told by the supplying dealer to expect the engine to use oil, certainly for the first 5k miles, hence the litre in the boot, complete with carrying case. However,since the 1200 mls, service the level has stayed at the halfway point on the electronic indicator, rather suggesting there is no oil issue with this unit (unlike the RS4)

[taffyracer]

The E46 was a real suprise to me as well, i had 2 mates with similar age/mileage cars at the time and none of them could get more than 25-26 out of theirs doing similar sort of speeds, it really was exceptional, at 80mph with cruise on I used to get close to 30, just incredible from such a car really, E92 is just better in all respects other than on track IMO and worth the lower fuel returns, mine uses about 1L of oil every 4-5,000 miles i'd say, topped it up 3x, nothing major

[MC99]

never did as well as taffy with my s50 and s54 engined cars, mway 80ish returned 26ish, the V8 is 3-4mpg down from those levels, but I'm okay with it as I do much lower miles per year than before so it's a minimal impact on running costs as a whole. I haven't had to touch the oil yet (2,000 miles driven) but will be keeping a careful eye on it as I've heard they do need topping up, I'll follow taffy's experience and expect to add some between now and the 5,000 mile mark (total mileage will be around 16k then).

[griffgrog]

I'd budget on 18mpg overall. That where about's mine usually sits with a mixture of driving. Not bad for a fat old girl.